The South‐eastern European countries are coming together in Podgorica, Montenegro on 21 February 2018 to develop a regional action plan for 2 years with specific strategic objectives and activities to implement the Chisinau Pledge.
Nine Member States (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Israel, Montenegro, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Serbia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia) are part of the South-eastern Europe Health Network (SEEHN). They signed in April 2017 the Chisinau Pledge committing to join action in collaboration with WHO and partners on a range of issues. The objective of the meeting in Podgorica is to discuss how WHO can support the network in implementing these commitments during the 2018-2019 biennium.
“The Chisinau Pledge is an important instrument to ensure the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the sub-region,” says Dr Lucianne Licari, SEEHN Special Representative of the Regional Director of in the WHO Regional Office for Europe. “WHO as a key partner of the network continues to provide technical support required to Member States, not only through the Biennial Collaborative Agreements (BCAs) signed with individual countries but also in multi-country collaborations across the network.”
National Health Coordinators of the network and SEE representatives of Regional Health Development Centres will participate in the meeting, along with representatives of WHO from the Regional Office for Europe. They will discuss opportunities for achieving the goals and strategic objectives of the Chisinau Pledge in the SEE region and reaching an agreementon the way forward to address common challenges.
“The SEEHN network is dependent on the support of the partner organizations in implementing the commitments made in the Chisinau Pledge,” says Dr Mira Jovanovski Dasic, Head of the Secretariat of the Network. “We appreciate the long-standing partnership we have with WHO and the support the network receives from WHO. We hope other partners of the network will follow the WHO example in supporting the implementation of the pledge.”
The Chisinau Pledge calls upon joint action of the Member states with partners on:
